Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton was only fourth fastest on day two of the opening winter test in Spain.

New Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets for the second day running at the Circuito de Jerez, lapping more than a second faster than Mercedes AMG Petronas star Hamilton.

The Hertfordshire-born F1 world champion was more concerned with racking up the laps than setting a fast time, with Vettel, Sauber’s Felipe Nasr and Williams driver Valtteri Bottas all quicker than him.

Hamilton emerged for his first run at precisely 9am CET, completing a total of 91 laps – about 403km – before lunch across a series of long runs, with his best time of 1m 22.490s slower than Vettel’s 1m 20.984s.

A water leak curtailed Hamilton’s running in the afternoon.

Nevertheless, Hamilton described it as “a satisfying day”.

He said: “We did a lot of laps and I got a feel for the car quite quickly.

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